1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an aluminum wheel cover to mount on a steel wheel to simulate a machined case aluminum wheel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Efforts have been made in the past to improve the appearance of original equipment automotive steel wheels. Such attempts have included colorizing or coating the wheel, physically augmenting the wheel, affixing a hub cap or wheel cover on the wheel, adding trim to the wheel, and replacing the wheel itself.
Conventional OEM steel wheels can be painted or plated to enhance their appearance. These methods require considerable effort and have a limited result in enhancing the overall appearance of such wheels.
Other efforts to improve the appearance of a conventional wheel have led to the attachment of an exterior plate or a series of plates by mounting them from the lugs. Such plates are intended to increase the width of the wheel making it appear more massive. U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,681 describes such an apparatus.
Further efforts to camouflage the appearance of a rudimentary automobile wheel have led to the incorporation of a cap or cover. Such caps can be plastic, metal, or wire spoked. The plastic caps are typically formed by injection molding. The metal caps are formed by casting or a blanking and drawing operation. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,976,542, 3,095,241, and 3,496,753 show examples of wheel caps and covers and the method of making them. Such caps or covers often suffer the shortcoming that they present little more than surface decoration providing little in the way of optical illusion persuasive of a faithful reproduction of a cast wheel.
It has also been proposed to add wheel trim to a rudimentary wheel or to a hub cap mounted on a wheel. The wheel trim is often employed in an effort to make the hub cap or wheel appear wider and can be configured to obscure from view the junction between the tire and the wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,728 suggests such an approach.
Often consumers are driven to replace the entire wheel in a quest for stylish transport. Previous solutions in the nature of augmenting the wheel sometimes presented a flimsy and visually unappealing wheel design. Thus, various forms of decorative automobile wheels themselves have been proposed. Aftermarket automobile wheels are typically cast aluminum or stamped and rolled steel wheels. For the cast aluminum wheel, the surface to be exposed to view is machined with a lathe cutting tool to remove rough edges and provide a smooth texture and luster. The lathing process leaves spiral markings indicative of the process. A machined cast wheel has a unique appearance that is valued by consumers. Consumers desire a machined appearance.
Decorative machined wheels, however, are expensive to manufacture and finish. The cost of making even the least expensive decorative machined cast wheel can be four times that for steel wheels augmented by other methods appearance augmentation, such as wheel covers. Decorative automobile wheels are also bulky, heavy, and cumbersome to package and transport to retail outlets.
Thus, consumers are faced with the choice of an expensive machined cast wheel or less expensive, though less attractive, devices. These less expensive devices do not have the improved appearance resulting from the machining process. They lack the high quality appearance that consumers normally associate with a high-end machined cast aluminum wheel.
Ordinary wheel covers have not achieved a resemblance to quality machined wheels that would give a consumer an inexpensive alternative to expensive cast machined wheels.